Routine physical exercise has long been extolled by virtually every medical authority as essential to good health and longevity. Because of modern conveniences and work-saving technology, the average person expands today less physical energy than did his counter-parts in generations past. As a result, the current generation by and large does not get the physical exercise necessary for good health. Insufficient training of the human heart, as well as constantly increasing emotional stresses and inadequate physical loads, cause a steady increase in the number of people having cardiovascular disorders.
As far as lethality and invalidization of people are concerned, cardiovascular disorders come first in the world.
In the recent years there has been an awakening to the need for a more systematized approach to the problem of physical exercise. Particularly, individuals in the over-thirty years age bracket are having routine exercise prescribed by their physicians as a preventive measure against heart disease and other associated cardiovascular disorders. Numerous recent publications have recognized a correlation between physical fitness and exercise and have delineated detailed regimens of programs of exercise intended to yield the desired results. The exercise must be performed only under medical supervision in respect to physical loads and the physical activity of the individual.
Known in the art is a pedometer consisting of a seismic mass and a mechanical counter (cf. U.S.S.R. Author's Certificate No. 301,534).
The operation of this pedometer is based on perception of the oscillations of the body center of gravity of a moving individual by the seismic mass. Each oscillation of the seismic mass is transmitted through a push rod to the mechanical counter which registers these oscillations. The pedometer counts all the oscillations of the individual in the vertical plane. This leads to false counts with the result that the counted number is somewhat greater than the actual number of steps.
Known in the art is an apparatus for determining levels of physical loads (cf. U.S.S.R. Author's Certificate No. 469,053) having a housing which incorporates a serial arrangement of a transducer for converting the oscillations of the body center of gravity of a person into an electrical signal, a pulse shaper, and an electrical signal counting/indicating unit. A power supply unit is connected to the pulse shaper and to the counting/indicating unit. The transducer includes switching elements constituted by two pairs of contacts respectively disposed in the toe tip portion and in the heel portion of the insole of a shoe. These pairs of contacts are connected in parallel with each other and are closed at the moment the foot touches the ground (or a support) during walking or running. The counting/indicating unit is an electromechanical counter which is actuated at the time of application of a pulse from the output of the pulse shaper. When at least one pair of contacts of the transducer is closed, an accumulating element at the input of the pulse shaper is also closed with the result that redistribution of charges occurs and a current pulse is thus produced to activate the pulse shaper which, in turn, also generates a pulse. The latter causes the indicating/counting unit to change its reading.
In the course of medical rehabilitation of cardiac patients it is necessary to restrict physical activity of individuals to predetermined limits. For this purpose it is sufficient to supply the person with information on the relative level of physical load which can be exerted on the person during movement. Rehabilitation proceeds normally if the person is subjected to physical loads below a predetermined optimum level. If the loads exerted on the person exceed the optimum level, the risk of recurrence of infarction increases.
The known apparatus for determining levels of physical loads does not permit the exerciser to distinguish between levels of physical loads according to the amounts of expended physical energy.